Video-feedback Intervention

In the Video Intervention to promote Positive Parenting (VIPP) program, parent/caregiver and infant are videotaped during daily situations at their home, e.g., playing together or bathing the infant. Reviewing the tape at the institute the intervenor prepares her comments for the next session. During the next visit the videotape is shown to the parent, and the intervenor discusses some selected fragments with him or her, with a special emphasis on positive interaction sequences. Video feedback provides the opportunity to focus on the infant's videotaped signals and expressions, thereby stimulating the parent's observational skills and empathy for his/her child. It also enables positive reinforcement of the parent's moments of sensitive behavior shown on the videotape. Before or after the video feedback the parent receives a brochure on sensitive responding, e.g., about crying and comforting, or about playing together.
VIPP consists of four themes that are elaborated successively during the four home visits: 1) the baby's contact-seeking and explorative behavior, 2) the accurate perception of the infant's (subtle) signals and expressions, 3) the relevance of prompt and adequate responding to the infant's signals, and 4) affective attunement and sharing of emotions. By explicitly acknowledging the parent as an expert on his/her own child, the parent is encouraged to participate in the discussion actively. For example, when the intervenor attempts to "speak for the baby" , the parent is invited to take part, and provide "subtitles" for the infant's behavior. In two booster sessions with both parents te issues of the first four sessions are re-visited and integrated. In the Video Intervention to promote Positive Parenting, Sensitive Discipline (VIPP-SD) to each of the sessions thematic discussions about limit setting issues are included, based on Patterson's ideas about coercive cycles, in order to support parents of 'terrible two's and three's' to deal with discipline in a consistent and warm manner.